During a Monday night press conference, NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch offered a preliminary overview of how the shooting played out.
She said that the suspect, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, had spent the last few days driving cross country from his home in Las Vegas. On Monday evening, he double parked his black BMW and entered the 345 Park Avenue office building carrying an M4 assault rifle. He immediately opened fire on an NYPD officer and others, shot and killed a woman hiding behind a pillar, then sprayed the lobby with gunfire and proceeded to the elevator. He then allowed a woman who was exiting the elevator to walk past him without harm.
He took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where he shot another person before eventually killing himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Tisch said that when police searched the suspect’s vehicle, they found “a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver, ammunition and magazines, a backpack, and medication prescribed to Mr. Tamura.” She said the suspect had a “documented mental health history.”
“His motives are still under investigation and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location,” she added.
